TRUMP EXTENDS IRAN CEASEFIRE, ORDERS CONTINUATION OF U.S. NAVAL BLOCKADE

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US President Donald Trump speaks to the press outside the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 13, 2026. Trump refused to apologize Monday for criticizing Pope Leo XIV, after the pontiff called for an end to violence in the Iran war. “There’s nothing to apologize for. He’s wrong,” Trump told reporters, a day after a social media post and comments slamming the US-born pope. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

By: Muftau Fatimo

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he is extending a ceasefire with Iran to allow additional time for negotiations, while maintaining a U.S. naval blockade of the country’s ports.

In a post on social media, Trump stated that the ceasefire would be extended until Iran presents a proposal aimed at ending the conflict, adding that he has directed the military to continue enforcing the blockade.

The announcement came just hours before the initial ceasefire agreement was expected to expire.

It also followed a White House statement confirming that Vice President JD Vance would not be travelling to Pakistan for what was anticipated to be a second round of peace talks.

The US president cast the breakdown in more talks as resulting from Iranian infighting, adding that Pakistan’s leaders had asked him to extend the truce.

“Based on the fact that the Government of Iran is seriously fractured, not unexpectedly so and, upon the request of Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, of Pakistan, we have been asked to hold our Attack on the Country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal,” Trump posted on his Truth Social site.

But the blockade of ports on Iran’s coast in the Strait of Hormuz will remain in place, Trump said, while the US military will “in all other respects, remain ready and able.”

The ceasefire, he said, will be extended “until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other.”

AFP